Zion Williamson has faced a lot of ridicule over the last few years for being overweight but it appears the internet trolls and Stephen A. Smith can no longer pile on him for that. Williamson held his first basketball camp in Spartanburg, North Carolina on Saturday, and a picture from there showed that he has slimmed down a lot.
That looks like quite the transformation. I am glad that Williamson is taking such good care of his body in the offseason and here’s hoping it leads to him being healthy and playing his best basketball in the 2024-25 season for the New Orleans Pelicans.
This past season, Zion averaged 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. The 24-year-old wasn’t quite at his best, but that was because he had to take a bit of a backseat and adapt to a different role.
With Brandon Ingram potentially on the way out, Williamson might have to take on a bigger role from the get-go next season, and being in this kind of shape would certainly help then. The two-time All-Star has all the tools to be one of the best players in the NBA and it’s time for him to put it all together and deliver on the court.
Getting back to this camp that Williamson hosted, nearly 200 kids attended it. When asked about his decision to host it in Spartanburg, Zion, who attended Spartanburg Day School, gave a wonderful answer.
“Because this is where the world got to meet Zion,” Williamson said. “The world met Zion my junior year, but the city of Spartanburg met me my ninth-grade year. They embraced me, they adopted me in a sense. It’s only right that I show love right back and give to the community.”
NBA star and Spartanburg Day School alum Zion Williamson on returning to upstate SC for a basketball camp: “This is where the world got to meet Zion … It was only right to come and give back to the community” pic.twitter.com/CuU2XCmzx9
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) August 17, 2024
That was a great decision. Williamson made another great one when he decided to charge nothing for kids to attend his camp.
“Originally we had a $100 or $200 charge,” Williamson said. “But two or three days later we were like, ‘We don’t need to charge anybody.’ So we just made it free to let people show up and have a good time.”
NBA star Zion Williamson says he and organizer @Carlos_Dotson were going to charge $100 to $200 per kid for his SC basketball camp. But they decided 2 days later to charge nothing. Zion: “Make it free, let people show up and have a good time” pic.twitter.com/1TArCpx1ja
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) August 17, 2024
That was a great way to give back to the community that embraced him when he wasn’t the star he is today. Williamson revealed he hopes to do more of these in the future and the kids certainly would appreciate that. They also asked him some interesting questions during the camp.
Kid: “Can you dunk from the free throw line?”
Zion Williamson: “Absolutely”
Kid: “Can you lock up Curry?”
Zion Williamson: “Nobody can lock him up, but I’m very capable of guarding him.”
Kid: “Best players you’ve guarded?”
Zion Williamson: “Carmelo Anthony and LeBron.”
The biggest surprise here has to be Williamson naming Carmelo Anthony as one of the best players he has guarded. Anthony was well past his best when Williamson entered the NBA as the first pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. It perhaps speaks to Carmelo’s greatness as a scorer that he was still giving someone like Williamson problems despite being in his mid to late 30s.
LeBron James, meanwhile, wasn’t much of a surprising pick. He and Zion have had some great battles in recent times, with James getting the better of him. Will the tables turn next season? We’ll have to wait to find that out.
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